oo8. sort of open.

[forgodssake]

CHARACTERS: Charles Xavier and Nuala; Emma Swan; Captain Hook (Killian Jones); Severus Snape; Ilde Knox; Cassandra Anderson; Alex Summers; William Tsang; Claire Bennet; Nuala; Erik Lehnsherr; the Winter Soldier; others as they happen.
LOCATION: Medical bay; science department; level 5, holodeck, passenger quarters; media library; laundry facilities; oxygen gardens; level 14; others as they happen.
WARNINGS: Descriptions of body horror.
SUMMARY: Jump cycle thirty-five happens, and Charles continues to exist. Basically.
NOTES: Monthly catch all! This is only partially open because I'm not providing a fixed narrative thing to reply to. Hence, please let me know if you'd like to do anything, and I'll be happy to set up a thread (unless you feel ambitious).

Comments

[forgodssake]

[ Charles hands drift up as if he could somehow coax her to calm down, except that all that frenetic energy is contained mainly to synapse firings, herky-jerk thoughts firing this way and that, as opposed to the outward. ]

...none taken.

[ His hands go back down, still at a semi-hover. Amicable warmth doesn't disappear, or wan in such a way as to be replaced by frost; it just dwindles a bit, as if matching his attempt to pull back on his own ability.

He considers lying to her. ]

Not really, [ instead. ] But I can ignore it, and it'll sort of become whitenoise in the background, like anything else might. My apologies, I didn't mean to unsettle you. It just seemed--

--relevant.

[pushfall]

[ She appreciates the honesty, over anything else, for a number of reasons, and while she might not be able to necessarily slow her thought process down knowing that there's someone who can follow it the same way she might follow a radio station turned down in the car, something in her face or her shoulders or her overall disposition looks a little less hectic. ]

No, it's okay. It's not a big deal. It's probably just as weird trying to have a conversation on your end. [ Claire makes a gesture not unlike wiping a window clean. The puppy not previously preoccupied by rolling around makes a jump at her hands in an attempt to nip at them. Fortunately, they aren't bestowing the same lack of manners on their guest. ] Can you hear what the dogs are thinking?

[ Just trying to make things light, okay. ]

[forgodssake]

[ It works, mainly, in earning a crooked smile from Charles. Shaking off her own shakenness, both of his own manufacture and vaguely empathetic. He's been ashamed of his power before. Accidental invasions of privacy aren't one of them, but any excuse will do. ]

No, no, dog's are a little too endearingly stupid for my power to touch them.

[ There's a glance down at the one still excitable, all newish white nippy teeth. Ah well. He got one to tucker out, and that'll have to do. ]

It can be a little odd. I'm compelled to respond to things that seem. Pertinent, I suppose. What I had wanted to say was that Nathan did show me some things of your world. His treatment of-- people like us. Before he put an end to it.

[ He's not actually sure all of what Claire knows, but she sees rather onto it. Aware. It's nothing he's shared with Severus or Erik, because of the politics inherent, a talking point he'd kept dormant until suddenly wanting to talk about it now that the man is gone.

Probably dead.

Sorry about ruining your lightening up efforts, Claire. ]

He wanted to show me the sort of man he was, because-- well. Fraught circumstances. You might've heard about the bridge takeover. Anyway. That's what I meant, on the network, because he didn't have to do anything of the kind, and I'd like to imagine he had some very compelling reasons to become a better person.

Izzie, probably.

[ Little joke. He doesn't know Claire, and has only ever had fraught interactions with parent relationships, but you know. Putting it out there. ]

[pushfall]

[ Claire laughs a little, because she does have to agree with him. Endearingly stupid is a perfect way to classify what she has to deal with every day. Although she privately believes that Diablo is a genius in disguise, whereas Tug is his jocky older brother. Maybe it's reflective of who owned them previously. Who does that make Izzie, then? Claire doesn't think about it. Assigning identities to dogs is weird.

Of course her mood is subject to change, and laughing over one thing doesn't negate the possibility of finding something else immediately arresting. The smile doesn't slip from her face necessarily, but it does become a little tighter, though she's careful that she doesn't direct it at him. It's just... a sore subject. Unprovoked and unbidden, images are pulled up out of filed away corners of her mind - the plane, the hoods, little snatches here and there, Mexico - maybe with more ease than they would have been had Nathan not recently vacated the premises to return back to the future that waited for him. Charles is half-right about that at least. There's no probably in Nathan's dead. It's just all the way certainly dead.

Resolutely, she does not think about how it happened. ]

He wasn't always a good person, you're right. [ Her resentment of that fact is a lot more personal but with good reason. The way her opinion had changed is, too. ] I didn't know him my whole life. I don't know if he ever said anything about that. I didn't meet him until I was sixteen, and from that point on it was always a little bit of a struggle to see the good in him, even though I knew it was there. Maybe that's what made it so frustrating when he wasn't. [ She scratches behind Tug's ear. ] The times when he finally got his eyes to open up and see the whole picture - I had very good reason to be really proud of him more than once. I'm glad that stuck with him here, that he showed more of that to people who weren't just us. He needed to flex that muscle a little more, show everyone what he was capable of.

[ It isn't the first time that she's felt sad about Nathan leaving since it happened, and being armed with the knowledge of what's coming for him makes it sting that much worse, but it is the first time she's felt sad about it right in front of someone who doesn't really know her. He can probably hear that or interpret it in some way. ]

Sorry. [ Her tone and expression are full of self-deprecation. ] I mean, thank you.

[forgodssake]

Don't apologise, I put you on the spot a little.

[ He has a way of, in turn, not sounding awfully apologetic about that, just mildly factual. Sympathetic. He mentally leans away from her thoughts as best he can, letting the familiar memories that tug at her mind slip away from him, careful not to unravel them. It would probably bring pain to them both.

And losing the control he's carefully navigating would be embarrassing besides painful. There's a small shake to his head at her thanks, reflecting that she's being generous in kind too. It would be easy to just go 'k well it's been real' and leave it done. ]

It's a rare thing, that someone gets pulled here, and they're able to make a difference. I'm glad for you both that I truly believe he did.

[ It's a parting note, a glance back at sleeping puppy, back at her. ]

I should let you get on. You can-- say hello to Severus for me.

[ His tone lances knowing, as he starts for the door. ]

[pushfall]

[ In all honesty she appreciates a more clinical, clipped approach, even if it is mixed a bit with sympathy. Anything more would be an acknowledgment of the outburst, and that would just leave her feeling more awkward than she already does. For her part, she's comfortable nodding, her mouth caught open and about to say something but changing its mind halfway there and closing around an exhale. She smiles, small and tight but not unkind.

As for the Severus comment, well - at least her face doesn't turn the color of a tomato for once. Just the rise of her cheeks. She isn't surprised. Really, she isn't sure how more people haven't said anything about it, but she's standing within two feet of a telepath. There's no way that one wasn't getting picked up on. Overall, the invasion of privacy isn't exactly welcome, but it isn't enough to turn him away either. He has been gentle about it. ]

Nosy. [ She says it with a barely-there hint of laughter, arching an eyebrow. ] I'll pass along the message. Any time you ever want to walk the dogs, feel free to message me. [ She stands at the foot of the bed and comes forward to see him out of her room like a polite and intelligent person. ] They like you.

[ Which is good enough for her. ]

[forgodssake]

[ The smile reflected back at her is mild, understated, more visible in the deeper lines at his eyes than anything else. He might point out that in all fairness they exist in each other's vicinities enough to fill in the blanks of fleeting thoughts, but--

It probably wouldn't be considered overly cute, though, if he threw in acknowledgement of her puppy placement considerations. Why couldn't he be born with flying or lightning hands or something. ]

I like them too. Let me know any time you need them walked, in turn.

[ Roster be damned. They like him. ]

Take care.

[pushfall]

[ Claire has known people with flight and lightning hands and in her opinion lightning hands is vastly overrated. Once she gets used to it, arms herself more thoroughly with the knowledge, it's probable that she'll be less flustered around him as a whole. Knowing that that Charles doesn't do it intentionally, even if only for the most part intentionally, leaves her less ruffled than if she suspected otherwise. ]

I will. [ It's a definitive promise, sealed with puppy drool and a lot of black dog hair. She leans in the doorway, one hand braced, and gives him a little wave before she turns around and lets the door slide closed. ] See you later.

[ Like... tomorrow. For more walking. ]